Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles.



PATENTBD DEC. 20, 1904.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.15, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Attorney.

UNITED STATES Patented December 20, I904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. WRIGHT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

STEERING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR ROAD-VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,710, datedDecember20, 1904.

Application filed January 15, 1904. Serial No. 189,163.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OHARLEs COLEMAN WRIGHT, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain and Ireland, residing at 3 St. Marys Grove, Gunnersbury,London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inand Relating to Steering Mechanism-for Motor Road-Vehicles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles,and has for its object to provide simple and effective means forpositively setting the position of the steering-wheels so as to precludethe possibility of their dislocation on striking any obstacle in v theway; and with this object the invention is more especially applicable tomotor road-ve hicles having a front drive, in the application to which afurther object is to avoid the tendency to side slipping or skidding andgenerally to provide motor road-vehicles which can be positivelycontrolled and which even with heavy loads are capable of being drivenat relatively high speeds without danger from side slipping or skiddingor from the dislocation of the steering mechanism, which is a frequentcause of accidents in motor road-vehicles as now generallyprovided.

According to the invention means are provided for giving to thesteering-wheel axle or to the fore-carriage upon which the motor ismounted a position which is positively maintained notwithstanding theimpact of any obstruction against either of the steering-wheels.

According to the invention, moreover, a lever is provided which isconnected to the steering-axle tube or to the fore-carriage by means ofrods respectively connected to the ends thereof, the movement of suchlever being effected and determined by means of a lever whose angularposition is determined by such means as a worm and worm-wheel gear andwhose extremity is connected to the first lever aforesaid by means of ajointed member which permits of relative movement in horizontal andvertical planes. The. respective steering-rods are also jointed topermit of the relative movement of the connected parts in a verticalplane.

invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 represents a front elevation of a motor road-vehicle providedaccording to the Fig. 2 is a plan corresponding to Fig. 1, showing thesteering mechanism in full lines and the vehicle parts in dotted lines.Fig. 3 is a detail sectional elevation, on a larger scale, of the wormand worm-wheel gear employed in the construction illustrated in Figs. 1and 2, while Figs. 4: and 5 are plan and elevation, respectively, on alarger scale, of the jointed member indicated in Fig. 2.

The invention is shown in the drawings as applied to a light vehicle,but may be applied to heavy vehicles which require to be driven at ahigh speed and prevented from side slipping, and the manner in which theinvention is carried into effect as applied to such vehicles dilfers inno essential respect from its application to light vehicles, asillustrated.

In carrying the invention into effect in its application to a lightvehicle, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I provide a lightbox or receptacle a. having an inclined and relatively long bearing 5for receiving the steering-post 0, and with a foot-step bearing d forthe reception of the lower extremity of the said steering-post. Upon thelower extremity of the steering-post and between the bearing 6 and thefoot-step bearing d I provide a worm e. I also carry upon said box orcasing 60 a horizontal spindle f, upon which I mount a worm-wheel g anda lever 72 which I advantageously render integral with said worm-wheel gby bolting the one to the other by means of bolts 6, as illustrated inFig. 3.

the horizontally-disposed lever j may have a relative movement withoutaffecting the lever 72/. Steering-rods 0 are respectively connected tothe extremities of the lever j, and their opposite ends are pivotallyconnected to the fore-carriage 12, upon which the motor and thespeed-reducing gear and the other parts may be mounted in any convenientmanner entirely apart from the present invention. The rods 0 areadvantageously jointed at 0' to permit of the relative movement of theforecarriage in a vertical plane.

In the illustrated construction the steeringwheels q are mounted upon anaxle 9', which latter is carried within atube s, forming part of thefore-carriage p, the fore-carriage being capable of rotation around acentrallydisposed steering-tube socket t, to which the vehicle-frame nis connected. In the illustrated example the frame is constituted oftubes at n, which are diverted inwardly and connected to thesteering-tube socket 2,, while the centrally-disposed tubular member 11of the frame is connected to the socket t toward the lower extremity. Itwill, however, be understood that the invention does not relate to theillustrated construction of the frame.

In the operation of the steering mechanism the steering-post c isrotated, by which the worm-wheel is caused to move, and with it theextremity of the lever h, which latter describes an are around the axisof the spindle f. By such means a determined position is given to thehorizontally-disposed lever j, and this position is in turn communicatedto the fore-carriage p. On either of the steeringwheels (1 coming intocontact with an obstacle on the road the strain is taken'up eventuallyby the lever h, whose position is positively fixed by the worm andworm-wheel gear.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles, consisting in combinationof a worm, means for causing the rotation thereof, a worm-wheel gearingwith said worm, a lever integrally connected to said worm-wheel, afore-carriage, links connected to each side of said fore-carriage, alever to whose extremities the said respective links are connected, anda link connection between said first and last named lever, substantiallyas described.

2. Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles consisting in combinationof a steeringpost, a worm mounted thereon, a worm-wheel gearing withsaid worm, a lever integrally connected to said worm-wheel, afore-carriage, links connected to each side of said fore-carriage, alever to whose extremities the said respective links are connected, anda link connection between said first and last named lever, substantiallyas described.

3. Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles, consisting in combinationof a steeringpost, a worm mounted thereon, a worm-wheel gearing withsaid worm, a lever integrally connected to said worm-wheel, afore-carriage, links connected to each side of said fore-carriage, alever to whose extremities the said respective links are connected, alink connection between said first and last named lever, said linkconnection being jointed to permit of relative movement of therespective levers, substantially as described.

4. Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles, consisting in combinationof asteeringpost, a worm mounted thereon, a worm-wheel gearing with saidworm, a lever integrally connected to said worm-wheel, a fore-carriage,links connected to each side of said fore-carriage, said links beingjointed to permit of the relative movement of the fore-carriage, a leverto whose extremities the said respective links are connected, and a linkconnection between said first and last named lever, substantially asdescribed.

5. Steering mechanism for motor road-vehicles consistingin combinationof two worms, means for causing the rotation thereof, wormwheels gearingrespectively with said worms, levers respectively integrally connectedto said worm-wheels, a fore-carriage, links con nected to each side ofsaid fore-carriage, a lever to whose extremities the said respectivelinks are connected, and a link connection between said levers and leverrespectively, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. C. WRIGHT. Vitnesses:

ALBERT E. SMITH, WILLIAM EDWARD EvANs.

Wind-

